Chiggers really suck!

[ClydesdaleKevin]

Oh yeah, Chiggers REALLY suck!  I sat down in the grass for a few hours when we first got here to Oklahoma, after reading that fire ants aren't this far north in OK, to set up my workshop tent...pounding stakes, etc.

OMFG!  Evil little vermin!  They don't even hurt when they first bite you.  So you don't even know they are there at first.  They crawl up you until they can't crawl any further...like when they get to your waistband or skivies...and then they settle in...and feed. 

And its in just the wrong area, the areas you don't want to be scratching in public!  I look like I have the chicken pox in just the nether regions!

The bites don't hurt, but boy do they itch for several days!  Today is the first day the itching hasn't been driving me crazy!

They don't hurt like fire ants, but the bites itch just as much, and last just as long.

The only thing that kept me from totally freaking out was reading up on them.  They don't really burrow under your skin and lay eggs, or any of those rumors that I heard about them.  And its only the babies that crawl up on you and feed on dead skin.  They feed for 3 days, and then become adults, which eat plants...so they don't come back for more.  And they aren't really sucking your blood or eating your flesh...but as they feed, the secrete this toxin that reacts like poison ivy where they are feeding.

Evil foul creatures!

I'll be wearing a lot of DEET here from now on!

So if you are from an area that doesn't have chiggers, and you visit Oklahoma, beware!  These little mites are horrid little beasts, and the Muskogee area is infested with them!

Kev

[Oz]

Yes, they do.  I don't know how I ever had this happen only once, but I got them only once and it really, really did suck!

[JDxeper]

Midwesterner know about chiggers, Off as a preventive and use Ruli if some get through the barrier.  Dusting sulfur used to be the preventive, dusted around the ankles (socks) and on pant legs. Shorts are an open invite for the itch. Y!.

If no Ruli can befound, Band-Aid makes a anti-itch gel which also works well for itch relief. :)rotflmao

BTW Stay out of the poison Ivy or Oak, or Sumac. And yes ticks

[Lefty]

Here in the south, chiggers are a fact of life if you go blackberry picking...
We always used plain old kerosene to keep them away.
Just pour a bit on a rag and wipe your legs,ankles,wrists,neck,and waistline with it. It also takes out the itch too btw... (and no, kerosene doesn't burn when applied 'down there"...) lol

It might stink a bit, but you get used to it.. I actually always liked the smell of it. And it washes off easily with soap and water in the shower.. and off the clothes in the wash.

[ClydesdaleKevin]

Good ideas guys!  I bought some Sevin dust to spread around the campsite and workshop too.

Fortunately I'm not allergic at all to poison ivy or oak or sumac, so that isn't an issue...and if chigger bites are anything like poison ivy, then my condolences to all you folks that can catch it!

Kev

[Oz]

When I was in the infantry, I spent entire weeks in the middle of the woods all over chigger, tick, and mosquito America.  Deep Woods Off and Cutters filled half my Ruck-Sack.  The one time I did get them was the one time I ran out on the last day.